Blank-check file.



No. 820,069. l PATENTED MAY 8, 1906.

G. W. SHERIDAN dz WDA. WHEELER.

BLANK CHECK FILE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY29,1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. SHERIDAN A ND WILLIAM A. WHEELER, OF BRIDGEPORT CONNECTICUT. Y

BLANK-CHECK FILE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 15506.

the United States, and residents of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blank-'Check Files, ofV

which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in blank-check binders, and is adapted to detachably retain such checks and their stubs together in their proper order until such times as when the said checks have been used and the stubs are to be filed away.

The invention can obviously be employed for other uses than that of binding blank checks -as, for instance, it can be used with excellent results as a loose-leaf binder or a file for letters or other special papers.

It is the purpose of our invention to produce a simple and inexpensive form of blankcheck binder which can be made very cheaply and given away by a bank to its depositors and is adapted to be used by them permanently as a binder for blank-checks, holding in the neighborhood of one hundred leaves or three hundred checks, said checks to be used in the ordinary way and when exhausted the stubs to be removed and filed away and a new lot of check-leaves inserted.

With the above and other objects in view our' invention resides and consists in the novel construction and combination of parts shown upon the accompanying sheet of drawings, forming a part of this specification, upon which similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and of which- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of our improved binder, the cover being broken away. Fig. 2 is a further perspective view of the back member of our improved binder. Fig. 3 is a further perspective view of the finger-contained rocker-shaft included in the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 4is a cross-section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the characters of reference markediupon the drawings, A indicates the back members'of the iile, B the rocker-shaft,

and C a plate covering the face of the back,

and said rocker-shaft.

D represents a locking device for the iingers of the rocker-shaft, and E a cover which may be of any of the ordinary cardboard constructions.

The back is preferably formed of wood and contains longitudinal grooves F and G therein, one forming a pocket for the locking device and the other a pocket for the rockershaft B. This back further contains three transverse grooves H, forming pockets for the fingers of the rocker-shaft. One edge of the plate is bent down, forming an L, so as to cover both the face and one side edge of the back of the rocker-shaft and pockets before mentioned.

The plate contains a series of notches I on its near edge and a similar series J onl the opposite edge. These notches register with the transverse pockets H of the back and form openings therefor, through which the fingers K operatively swing. These fingers, of which there are preferably three, are secured to the rocker-shaft, one being located at each end and the third intermediate such ends. This rocker-shaft is loosely contained within its pocket G and can be operated to swing the series of fingers to an open position, as i' seen in Fig. 1, or closed, as seen in Fig. 4.

The plate is secured to the back by a series of screws M or it can be riveted, if preferred.

The locking device D is in the form of a n slide and is made ofk a U-shaped wire loop having suitable operating ends N and constructed to frictionally engage its'pocket in a manner to prevent it from falling or jarring out in the manipulation of the file. It is slidably mounted in the pocket F in the path of the near finger, as seen in Fig. 1, and is prevented from complete withdrawal by a pin O, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. This lockingslide is located to operate in the pathy of the end finger and serves to prevent the opening of the fingers after they are closed andthe slide shoved home. y

Astrip of clothPis secured under the plate and intermediate of it and the back when said partslare assembled, having its side edges P projecting slightly for attachment to the cover, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4,in which condition the file is turned over to the binder for the attachment of the cover. edge or L on the near side of the plate, as seen in Fig. 1, in addition to inclosing the rocker-shaft disposes the cloth down farther, and thus locates the hinge of the cover on IOO The depending that side lower than upon the opposite side, which allows the fingers to be thrown back to lsubstantially a right angle (see dotted lines, Fig` 4) and leaving their ends disposed free for the removal or attachment of leaves. The ends of the cover project beyond the back slightly, as seen at Q, to form a protection for the edge of the leaves and likewise for the ends of the wire slide.

In the employment of Aour improved file the blank-check leaves, which have previously had holes punched in their stud end to correspond with the three fingers, are placed upon the fingers when in the open position. (Shown in Fig. l.) Thefingers are then closed to the position shown in Fig. 4 and the locking-slide shoved home in the path of the fingers, which locks them in their closed position, whereupon the checks can then be filled out and torn from the stub in the usual way. When the checks are exhausted, the stubs can be removed for filing away by withdrawing the slide and freeing the fingers, whereupon a new set of blank-check leaves can be put in. l

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In a blank-check file, the combination with a solid back having a longitudinal groove therein, a rocker-shaft mounted in the groove and havin a series of fingers, a plate having a depen( ing edge inclosing the rocker-shaft and face and edge of back and having pockets to receive the ends of said fingers, and a locking device to engage one of the fingers and lock the same and its shaft in a closed position.

2. In a blank-check file, the combination with a solid back having two longitudinal pockets therein, a rockenshaft mounted in one of the pockets and bearing fingers, a locking device mounted in the other pocket, a plate covering the two pockets to close the same, and pockets in the back of plate to receive the ends of the fingers when in a closed position.

3. In a blank-check file, the combination Y with a solid back having longitudinal and transverse pockets therein, a rocker-shaft journaled in one of said longitudinal pockets and having fingers to engage the transverse pockets, a plate to inclose said rocker-shaft, a locking-slide adjacent to one of the transverse ockets and adapted to operate in the line o travel of one of the fingers to lock the same in a'closed position.

4. In a blank-checkfile, the combination with a solid back havinor longitudinal and transverse pockets, a roczlier-shaft mounted oo in one of said longitudinal pockets and a locking-slide in the other of said longitudinal pockets, a plate inclosing said pockets, shaft and slide and a binders cloth intermediate of the back and plate for attachment to a cover.

5. In a blank-check file, the combination with aback of a series of fingers connectibly pivoted within the edge of said back and below the face thereof, a series of pockets in the face of the opposite edge of said back to receive the ends of the fingers, a slide beneath the face of the back to engage the end of one of said fingers to lock it in a closed position, and a cover attached to said back having one of its sides hinged adjacent to the edge of the face of the bactlr and the other below the pivotal point of the rocker-shaft.

6. In a blank-check file, the combination with a back, a rocker-shaft mounted below the face thereof adapted to operate from a vertical to a horizontal position, a cover attached to theback, one side of said cover being hinged adjacent to the face of the back and the other below the pivotal line of the rocker-shaft, pockets in the back to receive the ends of the fingers and a slide for engaging and locking the same.

7.. In a blank-check file, the combination with a back having suitable pockets therein, a plate inclosing said pockets, a rocker-shaft operatively contained within one of said pockets and having a series of curved fingers, pockets in the back to receive the ends of the iin ers, a locking-slide to engage one of such 95 en s of the fingers to hold the same in a closed position a cloth secured intermediate of the back and plate having parallel side edges disposed for engagement with a cover.

8. In a blank-check file, the combination roo with a back, of a rocker-shaft pivoted therein below the face of the back bearing a series of curved fingers adapted to open and shut with the movement of the rocker-shaft, a cover secured to the back one of its sides being hinged 105 intermediate of the face and bottom of the back to allow the fingers to be opened to a right angle to the face ofthe back. l

Si 'ned at Bridgeport, in the county of -Fair eld and State of Connecticut, this 26th uo day of July, A. D.' 1905.

GEORGE W. SHERIDAN. WILLIAM A. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

C. M. NEWMAN, RUTH RAYMOND. 

